He quit middle school and later college due to his mental health. He took various jobs, but none lasted long.
For most of his life, Jin stayed at his home in Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang province, eastern China, and was cared for by his parents. He showed interest in foreign languages and consumed foreign movies and books at Zhejiang Provincial Library, the Hangzhou Daily reported.
In the past decade, Jin has translated 22 books from English, Japanese and German into Chinese, with 20 of them having been published on the mainland. The books are on literature, film research and philosophy, targeting a relatively small group of readers.
This little-known translator has shot to fame in China following a newspaper report that went viral earlier this month.
The report came about after Jin’s father Jin Xingyong approached the media, and requested they write about “our genius son”.
The senior Jin, 86, made the call in November last year, just days after his wife died. “One day if I also pass away, no one in the world will know the story of our son,” he said, explaining his decision to call the media, according to the report.
The younger Jin’s mother died of Alzheimer’s, a disease she had suffered for three years. The father said the son spent a lot of time looking after his sick mother and never lost his temper with her.
Their family’s story of supporting each other during hard times has since inspired a flood of sympathy and praise online.
As a result, the junior Jin’s books have become highly sought after, news website Thecover.cn reported.
Some of his books are now out of stock on online shopping platforms which are now using prominent ads such as “Jin Xiaoyu’s translation works” on their websites. On one platform, his translation of The Andy Warhol Diaries, saw its price rise from 198 yuan (US$31.15) to 373 yuan (US$58.65) last week, the report said.
In one bookstore in Kaifeng, Henan, central China, no one had bought a book written by Japanese author Yoko Tawada and translated by Jin for half a year until last week when five copies were sold in a single day.
Nanjing University Publishing House, one of the main printing presses working with Jin, said it will print more of his translations in the next couple of weeks to cope with the sudden demand.
“Some people said my son translates books only for money. I had to give them a wry smile,” Jin senior told the Hangzhou Daily. “They don’t know that my son translates books not for money at all, but that it is actually a tonic for him when he is struggling with poor mental health.”
The father said since his son started to translate books 10 years ago, his symptoms diminished. The past decade, during which Jin’s father has been his son’s assistant and the first reader of his books, has been the happiest period in the family’s life, said Jin senior.
Jin senior said his family is perhaps the only one in the city without any home appliances because his son has already smashed several television sets, fridges and washing machines, during periods of mania.
However, he has never damaged his computer on which he learns foreign languages and does translations. The other appliance Jin junior has never attacked is his mother’s sewing machine. His mother used it to make clothes for Jin from the time he was a small child.
The father said editors liked to work with his son as Jin junior’s translation works tend to have very few mistakes, the newspaper reported.
An editor at Henan University Publishing House, another press collaborating with Jin, said his translation is precise and “keeps the original flavour of the original version of the book”.
When being interviewed by state media CCTV, Jin junior said he is strict with his work as he hopes this will limit criticism.
“If my translation has problems, it means I have broken my own rice bowl,” he said, adding that: “I am not a genius. I need to work hard.”
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